Wind up/solar iphone charger recommendation

[jasper1]

Thank you for all your input......I'm certainly learning some stuff one here.

Jasper

[Briggs]

So far, I haven't found the holy grail of a compact solar panel that's powerful enough to recharge an iPhone/Smartphone. Not unless it's a bright sunny cloudless day with the panel pointed directly at the sun. This is what I'm using in the meantime....

This isn't solar, but I find it quite handy as an emergency phone charger. It's a standard wall charger but it also has the ability to charge up via 12v and it also has a USB port, which can recharge a phone from the AA or AAA batteries. The downside, it's not exactly compact. I have tried recharging it via a 30watt panel and it works just fine. The problem is a 30watt panel is hardly portable!



The SP1001 is compact, but the panel is not very powerful. Don't expect to get a full iPhone charge in 30minutes if you are just using solar. Emergencies, okay, but not for a full charge. The built in battery will give you a 55 to65% charge. I used mine yesterday - very poor performance when placed flat on my car's dashboard.



In my everday carry, I use one of these. I find it the most compact way to carry back up power for your phone, or any USB device.



Perhaps the answer is this....I like the positionable panel but it's pricey and I've not seen any good reviews on it so I'm reluctant to part with my cash right now.



I hope that's given you some ideas, my gut-feel is that compact solar panels just aren't capable of catching enough of our typical UK sunshine. if you find a solar recharger that does work in our typical 'summer' days, then let us know!

[daylen]

If you're wanting to charge an iPhone for anything other than an emergency call then a wind-up charger isn't really going to be of much use I'm afraid.

Likewise with solar. Unless you don't mind carrying a large-ish panel, you're just not going to get enough sun in the UK to charge it.

I made a simple AA battery powered USB charger that fits in a small tin. I take this with me when away from home. For a lower powered phone (as in, not my new HTC One or newer iPhone) I would get 1.5 full charges from 4 AA batteries. With my new power hungry phone with large battery I only get three quarters of a full charge. But I can simply pack an extra pack of AA batteries and that keeps me going.

I made something like this but bigger - http://makezine.com/2011/07/05/in-the-m ... b-charger/

[Briggs]

If you're wanting to charge an iPhone for anything other than an emergency call then a wind-up charger isn't really going to be of much use I'm afraid.

Likewise with solar. Unless you don't mind carrying a large-ish panel, you're just not going to get enough sun in the UK to charge it.

I made a simple AA battery powered USB charger that fits in a small tin. I take this with me when away from home. For a lower powered phone (as in, not my new HTC One or newer iPhone) I would get 1.5 full charges from 4 AA batteries. With my new power hungry phone with large battery I only get three quarters of a full charge. But I can simply pack an extra pack of AA batteries and that keeps me going.

I made something like this but bigger - http://makezine.com/2011/07/05/in-the-m ... b-charger/

You have arrived at the same conclusion as me (above). There's nothing on the market of a compact size that produces enough milliamp/hours to recharge and iPhone/Smartphone by solar. To recharge by solar means using non-compact sized panels to make up for the lack of sun.

[ulyssesgrant]

Hi all.

Thought I would just add a little to this thread from experience I've had. I've spent a great deal of time on expedition, and one of the things that has really developed, even over the last few months, is solar. There are a few things out there that are ok for a bug out bag, and that will charge an iPhone/USB device. Alas some of it is rather pricey, but to be honest, you get what you pay for in this particular industry. Don't feel that because you are in the UK its a no-go as a possibility for power. I've used loads and they DO work here.


https://www.powertraveller.com/en/shop/ ... treme-12v/ I've used power traveller stuff all over the world, and its really good. The charge time isn't too bad for AA/AAA batteries if your using a USB battery charger. It charges the battery pack reasonably quickly in Britain. Its quite light and compact. Ive used it at very low temps and in a desert. It worked for me in overcast conditions, albeit slowly.

http://www.goalzero.eu/shop/produktkate ... solar-kit/ Thats an example of something from GoalZero. I've used that too. Even in sun-laden England it produces a decent amount of charge going into the power pack (which is 4 AA batteries, a little more versatile than the power traveller stuff...). The only downside is its a little heavier.

http://www.brunton.com/products/hydrogen-reactor If your truly, truly made of money and are fan of Über kit, this new little offering from Brunton is interesting... Never used it but looks like a new direction in power...

An off the wall offering, and it may not fly as its on 'Kickstarter', is this... http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bur ... ower-to-go Hydro on the go, so to speak....

Batteries-wise, if your going to use rechargeable ones the best out there by a mile, and this again is from using them on glaciers, jungles, foully hot deserts, and even in England... etc, are Eneloop by Sanyo. If you get the new ones that will charge over 1800 times before they start to fade they really are great. I've got about 50 -60 now of different sizes.


Hope those examples help. If you want exact charging times I'll send them across....

[junmist]

I think I want a hydro bee

[1971efc]

If your just looking for something lightweight to charge a phone or something similar then check out the goal zero guide 10 portable solar panel. Just fit it to the outside of your bag as your moving. It also has a usb power point and comes with a AAA battery charger pack for lightweight power requirements. I've got this solar system and it seems to do the job well

[ulyssesgrant]

Its a cool idea but it looks like it wont go. Has to raise $32,000 in 10 days...

[Bodhihermit]

A bit pricey but a biolite? im trying to convince myself its worth the money

I think somebody posted about that product somewhere on here.

Basically, a bit heavy for a foot Bug-Out and requires a long burn (therefore much fuel) to get a decent charge

Your right there ForgeCorvus
As I said on the aforementioned thread, , "it's a bit gimmicky," I saw one in the local camping shop, then a mate of mine went and bought one from maplin @£150, ( yeah they are cheeper elswhere) But I at least had the chance to see one performing, It takes ages to reach peak voltage, the main problem is that the Fan takes precedence, you need it to keep the thing hot enough to charge in the first place, but in turn it takes most of the available power, so it takes ages to charge a mobile phone, (tested using my old Samsung Tocco Lite from dead flat) it took nearly 6 hours to get it near full charge and it's a hungry little critter too, it needed quite a large pile of twigs to do it, had a little more success with my Kobo e Reader, 2 1/2 hours to full charge, all in all it' ok for a redundancy backup to wind/solar, but expensive.

[EddieEnzyme]

Just a small point, someone said in an earlier post that their small solar panel performed poorly in the car.
Car windows actually filter out the UV that the panels convert inro electrickery. They don't just need light to work properly, they need all of the components that make up SUNlight.